Representation as cultural construct in two Johannesburg gardens and selected artworks

Abstract:

This research investigates how private, urban gardens in Johannesburg can be regarded as self representations under the ambit of visual culture. Based on the premise that private, urban gardens represent sites where subjective and cultural realms intersect, I employ discourse analysis based on a qualitative, interpretative paradigm to formulate a frame useful to an investigation of gardens. The frame is applied to two private, urban gardens in Johannesburg created by Jean Patchitt and Karel Nel. They are drawn from a single socio-economic class in order to reveal differences in the culturally constructed identities of the gardeners. I use the frame to examine artworks by artist and gardener Nel and artworks comprising my practical research, where gardens form the subject matter, to a similar end. Utilising a phenomenological approach, I argue that since gardens and artworks rely on sensory-perceptual experiences, an aesthetic that negotiates differences in value and pleasure informed by culture plays a determining role. By exploring the link between gardens and artworks as part of a larger signifying practice, my research contributes to the discourse of visual culture in general and to a South African context in particular.